Species · genus Euphorbia · Euphorbiaceae

Snow On The Mountain

Euphorbia marginata Pursh

Also known as: Variegated Spurge · Smoke-on-the-prairie · Ghostweed · White-margin Spurge · White-margined Spurge

Growth habit

annual

Native range

Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming

Reference · E. marginata

Cultivars of E. marginata

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under E. marginata yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

An annual native to the open plains and dry country of central North America and Mexico, this Euphorbia is built for full sun and lean, fast-draining soil. Let the soil dry well between waterings and water only when the top two inches are dry, since it tolerates drought far better than soggy roots. As a true annual it completes its life cycle in a single season, setting seed before it dies back.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 7-14d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Direct sun

Water

≈ every 14 days

Humidity

Low — average room

Temperature

10–27 °C

Soil mix

Well-draining, average garden or potting mix

Propagation

Seed, sown in spring

Fertilizing

Light feed in spring; needs little

Growth rate

Fast

Flowering

Grown for its white-margined leaves and showy white bracts in summer

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Toxic to cats & dogs & humans

Euphorbiaceae produce an irritant milky latex that can harm skin, eyes, and mucous membranes if broken or ingested. This is where toxicity lives: every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 7-14d) · ai:claude-fable-5 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (family inference)

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Snow On The Mountain yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.